Nordic Impact Cooperation AS (“Nordic Impact Cooperation”), owned by the Finnish Fund for Sustainable Development (“Finnfund”) and Norsk Solar AS (“Norsk Solar”) has made its first investment decision into a Norsk Solar-developed solar PV-project in Vietnam.
Norsk Solar, a leading and fast-growing independent solar power producer, with a particular focus on the commercial & Industrial market in emerging markets, entered earlier in 2021 into a 11 MW long-term electricity purchase agreement with Central Retail in Vietnam, one of southeast Asia’s largest retail conglomerates (the “project”). Norsk Solar develops, builds, owns, and operates solar assets on several of Central Retail’s rooftops in the country. The project is one of the largest single-client rooftop solar PV systems in Vietnam and is currently under construction by Norsk Solar.
On 30th of April 2021, Finnfund and Norsk Solar established a unique financing platform for impact investing in developing countries, Nordic Impact Cooperation, particularly targeted towards scaling a growing commercial and industrial (“C&I”) pipeline developed by Norsk Solar. Today, Nordic Impact Cooperation made a positive investment decision for the project. Nordic Impact Cooperation will invest approximately USD 1.4 million, which in return gives ownership of 55% of the project. The remaining ownership is held by Norsk Solar with the intention of including another Nordic state-owned DFI as a shareholder. The project is already under construction with all supply and EPC contracts signed and initiated, and is expected to reach commercial operations in Q4, 2021.
“As we have seen recently with the latest IPCC report, the transition towards renewable energy, and cutting C02-emissions need to go at a significantly faster pace. Our value proposition is to offer private companies in emerging markets the ability to deploy clean energy at no up-front cost. They can reach their sustainability targets and they don’t have to compromise on the commercial side as they make significant savings on their energy bill. Together with Finnfund, we show the potential for rapid deployment of solar towards C&I, and the project with Central Retail in Vietnam is a great example”, says Øyvind Vesterdal, CEO of Norsk Solar.
“We are proud to have successfully entered into the first investment decision for the Nordic Impact Cooperation together with Norsk Solar, and we are looking forward scaling this further in the time to come and enabling the private sector in growing economies to utilize renewable energy in their operations and to take part of a much-needed transition”, says Tuomas Suurpää, Senior Investment Manager at Finnfund.
The project will generate over 300,000 MWh of clean electricity over the lifetime of the project; equivalent to offsetting more than 120,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions over the system lifetime.
